SPELLING EDITED V-46. WHAT DOES 1 John 1:1,2 TRULY MEAN?
1 John 1:1,2.
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life. 2. (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested unto us;)”
Now, Trinitarian Christians INTERPRET these two verses to mean that the “Word of life” is a separate divine eternal being that they call God the Son, the second person of a Godhead Trinity God who was WITH God the Father in eternity past. And then, that God the Son who is also called or named the Word of life incarnated himself to become the Son of God in the womb of Mary to be born of a woman. But when God the Son was born of a woman he REMAINED the fully Almighty God and a human being at the SAME time having TWO natures, one divine, and one human. But when I read these verses in 1 John 1:1,2 I see that the phrase “the Word of life” as being the SPOKEN word OF God that Almighty God the Father PROPHESIED to come into being as a CHILD born of a woman who would become God’s Messiah. In other words, the SPOKEN word of life of PROPHECY was MANIFESTED to become the Son of MAN, Jesus, who was miraculously created in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and then the spoken word of life that came forth out from God’s mouth became FLESH. And then, after the RESURRECTION of the Son of MAN, the human Jesus, the disciples of Jesus were eyewitnesses to the Word of life being manifested to become ETERNAL LIFE. And they bear witness that God raised the Son of MAN, Jesus, from the dead and GAVE him ETERNAL LIFE. And now, that same word of LIFE is PREACHED as being a promise to be MANIFESTED to us who BELIEVE unto the END to be saved. And we know that this is the TRUE meaning of 1 John 1:1,2 because the Apostle John goes on to teach the TRUE Gospel of Jesus Christ which when believed and obeyed will bring ETERNAL LIFE to those who endure unto the end to be saved. In other words, John goes on to preach the words of life in the context that follows 1 John 1:1,2. So the only way to come up with the phrase, “the Word of life” meaning of a pre-existing God the Son who manifested himself to become the human Son of God is for a Christian to INTERPRET those two verses to agree with what they ALREADY believe. So Trinitarian Christians will INTERPRET 1 John 1:1,2 as the Word of life being a pre-existing eternal God the Son who manifested himself to become the human Son of God but yet remain the eternal Almighty God. Oneness Christians will INTERPRET 1 John 1:1,2 as the Word of life being Almighty God the FATHER manifesting Himself as the Son of God. But to Oneness Christians, Jesus is NOT a separated being from the Father. In other words, according to Oneness Christians, God manifested himself a BODY to dwell in as a garment that God wore. And thus Jesus was not a real SEPARATE person to them. And Biblical Unitarian Christians INTERPRET 1 John 1:1,2 as the Word of life being the spoken word of Almighty God that came forth OUT FROM God just like Jesus said that he CAME OUT FROM God in John 16:27,28.
Please read John 16:27-29.
“For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me, and have believed that I CAME OUT FROM God. 28. I CAME FORTH FROM the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. 29. His disciples said unto him, Lo, NOW speak you PLAINLY, and speak no proverb.”
The phrase “I came OUT FROM God” is referring to the spoken word of PROPHECY that came out from the MOUTH of Almighty God the Creator. And the phrase “I came FORTH FROM the Father” is referring to Jesus being commissioned by the Father at his baptism to be sent out into the world to do the will of his God and Father. Remember that Jesus said to the Jews that they search the Scripture for eternal life. And then he told them that the Scripture spoke of him or testified of him as being the one prophesied to come. But yet they would not believe his words.
John 5:38-40.
“And you have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. 39. Search the SCRIPTURE; for in them you think you have eternal life: and they are they which testify of ME. 40. And you will not come to ME, that you might have life.”
Then in the next chapter of John, Jesus teaches a hard message to grasp and many of his disciples left off or stopped following Jesus. And Jesus asked his twelve disciples if they ALSO will leave him. And they said to WHOM will we go because we are sure that you are the one prophesied to come in Scripture to be the Messiah, the anointed one of God. We believe that you, Jesus have the WORDS OF eternal life.
John 6:67-69.
“Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? 68. Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to WHOM shall we go? YOU have the words OF eternal life. (Please notice that the English word “WORDS” is in the plural. In other words, they knew that Jesus was the only Rabbi or teacher that had the TEACHING of eternal life. They did not say that they believe that Jesus IS the Word of life. But rather they said YOU HAVE the words OF eternal life) 69. AND we BELIEVE and are sure that YOU ARE THAT Christ, the Son of the living God.”
WHAT Christ? The Christ that is PROPHESIED in the Scriptures who would come. Now, let us read what Jesus said about the WORDS that he is TEACHING.
Please read John 6:63. “It is the spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing: the WORDS that I SPEAK unto you, THEY are SPIRIT, and THEY are LIFE.”
So then, the words that Jesus taught are words OF ETERNAL LIFE that he showed unto his disciples by being raised from the dead as the PROOF that he was who he said he was, the Messiah. And the very WORDS that Jesus SPOKE were SPIRIT that quickens or gives LIFE. So then, WHOSE words of ETERNAL LIFE were they? Were they Jesus’ OWN words? Or were the words OF ETERNAL LIFE that Jesus taught the Father’s word?
Please read John 12:48-50.
“He that rejects me, and receives not my words, has one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. 49. FOR (Or BECAUSE) I have NOT spoken of MYSELF; but the FATHER which sent me, HE gave me a COMMANDMENT, WHAT I should SAY, and WHAT I should SPEAK. 50. And I know that HIS commandment is life everlasting: (Or I know HIS words that Almighty God the Father gave to me to SPEAK is the WORD of ETERNAL LIFE) whatsoever I speak, therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.” And the Word of eternal life that Jesus TAUGHT his disciples about what would happen to him did indeed come to pass just as Jesus taught then before the cross. Jesus taught that he would be crucified on the cross and die for the sins of the world BUT God would NOT leave his soul in the grave. Jesus taught the words of eternal life that God would raise him back from the dead and give him the joy that God set before him to endure the cross. And AFTER the cross Jesus said TOUCH me, HANDLE me to see that it is really me and not a spirit as you suppose. And they were EYEWITNESSES of the Word of life coming to pass being resurrected. And for forty days they HANDLED Jesus, having seen many infallible proofs, that Jesus was alive never more to die. In other words, they were eyewitnesses of ETERNAL LIFE being GIVEN to a human being to become the FIRSTBORN from the DEAD, the FIRSTBORN among many BRETHREN. And that is the GOOD NEWS for those who BELIEVE the gospel of salvation. Now, with all of this fixed in your mind let us read 1 John 1:1,2 our HANDS have HANDLED the Word of life.
1 John 1:1,2.
“That which was from the beginning, which we have HEARD, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our HANDS have HANDLED, of the Word of life. 2. (For the life [Speaking of the RESURRECTION life-giving power] was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested [Or was TAUGHT and clearly made known] unto us;)”
The word “manifested” does not means to magically appear. But rather it means to CLEARLY make known. So what the Apostles of Jesus witnessed was the PROPECIES in the Old Testament coming to pass right before their eyes. They witnessed the first coming of the Messiah, and they HANDLED the flesh and bone BODY of Jesus, the FIRSTBORN or the first BEGOTTEN from the DEAD never to die again.
G5319 φανερόω phaneroō fan-er-o'-o From G5318; to render apparent (literally or figuratively): - appear, manifestly declare, (make) manifest (forth), show (self).
As an adjective, the word manifest describes something that is clear to the mind. And as a verb, it means to show or to demonstrate by one’s acts. Jesus came to show us the Father to be the one true God by the WORKS that he did. Jesus said in John 5:19 that he could do NOTHING OF HIMSELF and in John 14:10 that it was the Father DWELLING IN him who did the works. So then, to ME, the Word of life should have never been capitalized to make it APPEAR to be a literal separate person who was with the Father at the very beginning of creation. The word of life is the spoken word of PROPHECY of Almighty God the Father that came out from the mouth of God. And Jesus is the FULFILLMENT of the word of life spoken out from the mouth of Almighty God. For further study as to why I can no longer believe in the doctrine of the Trinity, please READ and STUDY all the studies under the heading >>>A LIST OF STUDIES ON THE TRINITY!<<< And if you are a Oneness Christian please read all the studies under the heading >>>IS THE ONENESS DOCTRINE BIBLICAL?<<< Thanks for reading and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the truth of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. Your brother in our Lord Jesu Christ, Brother Mark.
RETURN TO HOMEPAGE AT VERSES USED TO TEACH THAT JESUS PREEXISTED! To me, the best way to know the ONE true God in ONE person is to know who Jesus TRULY IS according to the WHOLE word of Almighty God so please read ALL the studies under the heading >>>WHO IS JESUS ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE?<<< and you will see that the Bible itself teaches us that Jesus was CREATED by his God and Father. And if you have any questions related to the correct meaning of certain verses of Scripture on this subject of who Jesus is please read all the studies under the two headings >>>A LIST OF STUDIES ON THE TRINITY!<<< and >>>VERSES USED TO TEACH THAT JESUS PRE-EXISTED!<<< These two headings have ALL the studies that I have on who Jesus truly is according to what the Bible itself teaches us in simplicity. I compiled these three headings to make it easy for my readers to send just one, two, or three links to those you desire to help understand what the Bible itself teaches concerning who Jesus is in the LIGHT of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. Thanks for reading and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the truth of the whole word of Almighty God.
Your brother in our Lord Jesus Christ, Brother Mark.
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